Goodbye, French Fry

A Chinese American tween living outside of New York City, grapples with cultural identity in Yu’s heartening debut. Ten-year-old Ping-Ping is tired of her grandmother lamenting the fact that she’s “so” American. Though Ping-Ping wishes she was named Megan—maybe then annoying white-cued classmate Lee Beaumont would stop calling her “French Fry” due to the tofu sticks she eats at lunch—her immigrant parents encourage her and her younger brother Xy to ignore bullies and embrace their heritage. Even more pressing for Ping-Ping than Lee’s harassment, however, is the possibility that the family must relocate to Kenya for Baba’s UN job. She’d hate to leave her Italian American best friend Ana behind. But Ping-Ping soon learns that, unlike her ability to kick her frustrations away in taekwondo or her affinity for always playing with perfect poise during piano practice, some things are out of her control. Ping-Ping’s bravery and self-awareness, relayed via inviting prose, immediately endears her to the audience. Empathetic portrayals of the protagonist’s stern yet supportive family inject warmth into a story that will empower readers to stay true to themselves. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)

Correction: A previous version of this review misstated the work's setting.